Southern Europe November

Hi there,

I'm new here. I live in Berlin, Germany. I lead climb for around two years now. I mostly climbed in gyms (some outdoor experiences in Slovenia).

I have some free time between beginning of Nov and Dec, it got pretty cold here and I'm eager to go for a climbing trip, unfortunately none of my buddies can travel atm. Maybe there's anyone here with a similar idea?
I'm pretty open to the area (Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy?), 1-3 weeks, routes between 4 and 6b would be best.

Anyone up? Or a group I could join?

I think you'll find plenty of local citizens in Germany who speak sufficiently good English and are at least as eager to escape to climb in some place warm and sunny as you are.
And plenty of short cheap flights south from major German cities for spending a weekend in a warm place near blue water, since it is rumored that non-climbing Germans also lust for winter sunshine.

Or if you prefer the company of UK citizens, their eagerness to be in some place without cold drizzle perhaps exceeds that of Germans. Try on UKclimbing forums.

A different slant on the strategy is to travel alone to a great climbing place and then connect with partners after you arrive, either at the campground, or some inn or hostel favored by climbers. Seems like El Chorro is a good place to meet English-speaking climbers. Some destinations are better than others for finding partners -- something to ask about.
. (A variation on this is to bring a rope-solo kit, which will demonstrate your seriousness, and then other serious climbers who arrived alone will ask if you'd prefer a belayer).

Sharon and I tend to like climbing (and hiking and road-biking) around Marseille + Cassis + Aix + Toulon in November or December. Because for us it's not so convenient to fly to more popular (warmer) winter-sunshine climbing destinations like Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, El Chorro, Kalymnos, etc. And it's in driving range of early cross-country skiing in Savoie.

Ken

Hey Ken,

thx for the reply!

I don't know how common it is to go alone and look for people on the spot. So I'd prefer to find someone before I end up spending a lot of time waiting or looking for partners (I don't want to climb alone).
Plus it's cheaper to share a room, etc.

I didn't get what you were trying to say about German nonclimbers??
I don't mind if it's native americans, UK citizens, people from Germany or Spain (I also speak German and Spanish). I just found this page and gave it a first try.

I'll check out El Chorro (and some others places). Any more suggestions where it should be easier for finding climbing partners?

Thank you

If you speak Spanish you shouldn't have any problem finding partners in Spain as long as you are staying in proximity to a major city. Just search for a Facebook group for the largest city you plan to be near (for example: facebook.com/groups/3781039…). Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante are all easy to find partners in. I am currently doing my second solo trip thru Spain and it has worked well for me. Couchsurfing.org has also been useful. You could try the parking lot method at the major destination crags, but Facebook/Couchsurfing have worked for me. Good luck, feel free to get in touch if you come to Spain.

I'm intersted for shorter climbing trip, I've sent you a PM.

I think I to go to Spain for 2-3 weeks.

@Bill: the link doesn't work. But I will try fb and cs for further climbing group forums these days. Thank you! :)

Sorry for the dead link :P just search 'escalada en Barcelona' within Facebook. I should be bouncing around Valencia and Catalunya for most of November.

Just messaged you! Let me know if you're interested in meeting up on a weekend some time.

bambu,
I'm visiting Berlin at the moment and ran into an English-speaking group bouldering at Berta Block in Pankow every Wednesday evening. I believe some people also climb outside. Maybe you can connect with them?

hi
We will be on Cyprus from 0711 to 1511.
Mostly sport.
See you;-)
Water and air around 22 degrees

Thorbjørn